Chris Petersen knows who will start at quarterback for Huskies, but won’t say who it is

It’s not accurate to say that nobody knows who will start at quarterback for the Washington Huskies when they begin the 2015 football season Friday at Boise State.

Huskies coach Chris Petersen and his staff know. They made their decision a few days ago, then shared that decision with their players. And surely, a few of those players shared that decision with family and friends, and perhaps those family and friends have shared that decision with some of their friends, too, and perhaps some of those friends — the more industrious ones, certainly — felt an urge from within to share that information, in some form or fashion, on the Internet.

By that point, of course, it’s simply a rumor. But until Friday, that’s the best you’re going to get. Petersen made it clear Sunday he has no interest in clarifying the matter.

The UW coach said during his press conference that while the Huskies “have a really good plan” for what they’re going to do at quarterback, he doesn’t feel like divulging that plan prior to Friday’s 7:15 p.m. kickoff against Boise State.

“Because we kind of figured it out in the last day or two, we just really don’t think it’s an advantage to us to tell you our strategy right now on that position,” Petersen said. “And so we’ll pretty much announce that starting quarterback (at) game time.”

It will be either true freshman Jake Browning, fourth-year junior Jeff Lindquist or redshirt freshman K.J. Carta-Samuels. The trio competed for the job throughout spring practices and preseason training camp, splitting repetitions equally among them.

Browning, who graduated early from Folsom (California) High School and enrolled at UW in January, seemed to inch ahead of the other two competitors toward the end of camp, though the Huskies have practiced several times since then with no reporters in attendance. And there has been no shortage of fan speculation that Browning, who set the national high-school record for career touchdown passes with 229, might be the guy.

Regardless, Petersen is leaving it a mystery. He said two quarterbacks might play, or maybe three, but when asked if that means, at the very least, that it’s safe to say Browning will not redshirt this season, the coach replied: “It is safe to say that we have a good plan, and on Friday, you will see it.”

Never mind that two of the three candidates have never played college football, and therefore no film of them playing college football is in existence. Petersen doesn’t want to give Boise State even the slightest advantage.

He would have publicly announced the starter, he said, “if we thought it helped us, or if it was three weeks ago, or a month ago — but because it’s been so late, we don’t really think that helps us a whole lot. So we’ll just show up to the game and go with our plan.”

EXTRA POINTS

Petersen said the team voted on six captains: Lindquist, center Siosifa Tufunga, linebacker Travis Feeney, defensive lineman Taniela Tupou, receiver Jaydon Mickens and tailback Deontae Cooper. … Mickens will wear No. 1 instead of No. 4 this season, Petersen said, in honor of teammate and close friend John Ross, who is out for the season with a knee injury. … The Huskies’ first depth chart of the season features 11 freshmen as second or third-stringers: Browning, linebackers Tevis Bartlett, Ben Burr-Kirven and DJ Beavers, receivers Chico McClatcher of Federal Way, Quinten Pounds and Isaiah Renfro, left tackle Trey Adams of Wenatchee, tailback and O’Dea grad Myles Gaskin, and cornerbacks Austin Joyner of Marysville and Jordan Miller.